The Mummy / The Night of Counting the Years by Shadi Abdel-Salam

Why should you watch The Mummy / The Night of Counting The Years? It’s a must-see movie! Although this argument alone might not be powerful enough to make you to rush to the film archives when festivals like the ADFF don’t happen to be screening it, the reasons are endless.

The Mummy takes you back in time. The action is set in 1881 in Thebes, the former capital of the Pharaonic Kingdom, in the middle of a no man’s land along the Nile where the Horabat mountain tribe make their living selling ancient artifacts to Pharaohs and connoisseurs Ancient Egypt’s on the black market from generations to generations. When the Horabat tribe’s members take the winding paths to reach the tombs of the mysterious mountain, it feels like you are actually floating in time.

The Mummy is not only a movie you can watch, it also allows you to feel. The ambiance is so solemn and obscure that you become one of the members of the secret tribe. Whether you like or not, you unconsciously identify to them and feel part of the family.

If you enjoy twists, the plot will take you somewhere unexpected, into the gloomy depths of human nature. A dilemma tears the younger brother apart - he’s concerned about respecting Egypt’s heritage - and might lead him to betrayal. Should he help the Egyptian authorities reclaim their heritage, and thus allow the British Empire to get its hands on it or perpetuate the family traditions? Shadi Abdel-Salam’s masterpiece is an essential Egyptian classic. May it transport you to the dark complexity that lies on the identity’s respect.

By Samira Mesbahi (France)